Student Book Clubs: Can students in first grade talk about books? By: Colleen McCracken

Transcription

1 Student Book Clubs 1 Student Book Clubs: Can students in first grade talk about books? By: Colleen McCracken Easterly Parkway Elementary School First Grade Intern cmm5116@psu.edu April 22, 2009

2 Table of Contents Description of Teaching Context 3 Wonderings and Questions Main Wondering 4 Sub Wonderings 4 Data Collection Data Collection Narrative 5 Data Analysis Steps Taken to Analyze the Data 10 Explanation of Findings Claim #1 11 Claim #2 13 Claim #3 15 Reflection and Implications for Future Practice Appendix Table of Contents Appendix A- Inquiry Brief 19 Appendix B-Personal Journal 24 Appendix C-Reflection Journal 25 Appendix D-Student Work Example 28 Appendix E-Complete List of Books 30 Appendix F- Student Response Activities Appendix G- Bookmark 32 Appendix H- Talking Stick 33 Appendix I- Teacher Interview 34 Appendix J- Video List and Analysis 35 Appendix K- Student Conversation 39 Appendix L- Annotated Bibliography Student Book Clubs 2

3 Student Book Clubs 3 Description of the Teaching Context For the school year, I am working as an intern in a first grade classroom at Easterly Parkway Elementary School. I represent The Pennsylvania State University as one of fifty-nine elementary education majors chosen to student teach for an entire year in the State College Area School District. My class consists of twenty-one unique individuals, eleven boys and ten girls. Of the twenty-one students, two are African-American, one is from Saudi Arabia, one is from Egypt, one is from China, one student is from Japan, and the rest of the class identifies as Caucasian. Only five students in the class are below average in their reading levels. Those five students receive reading support from the Title 1 reading teacher and one receives learning support instruction. Three students leave the classroom for instruction in the English as a second language classroom. There are five above average students; out of those, three are significantly higher than the rest of the class in their reading abilities. These students read well above grade level. The majority of the students in the class are average in their reading levels; therefore, the class is on target for first grade material. The class consists of students with varying behavioral needs. There are eight students that have difficulty remaining on task. Almost half of the class needs explicit, simple directions and a place to work where they will not be distracted by things they can play with or by other students. The other students in the class set models of how students should act in the classroom. Our classroom thrives from working as a community. The students cooperate and assist one another to ensure that everyone understands. The State College Area School District curriculum integrates social studies units through language arts. We began the school year with a unit about how to be a good citizen in our

4 Student Book Clubs 4 classroom and beyond. Our next unit was American Album, where the students learned all about the country just in time for the election of the new president. We just completed the third unit about Pioneers and the life cycle of plants. Our final unit of the year explores wetlands and their importance to our environment. Each unit includes a set of related books that teachers use for reading instruction. Everyday we have literacy centers and the students spend time reading with a teacher, working on phonics, and practicing spelling words. The students receive individualized instruction in small groups based upon their reading capabilities. Throughout the year, students have changed groups many times. (See Appendix A for full Inquiry Brief) Main Wondering Wonderings and Questions As I set off on this inquiry journey, I thought that I was going to be focusing on how students came to think about and understand books; however, my wondering changed direction. Although, it would still be interesting to explore how children understand books; that extends beyond what I am capable of measuring. My wondering began to centralize on one repeated idea, book club. I really wanted to know more about how I could encourage children to talk and listen to one another. What encourages first grade students to have meaningful discussions about a book with others? Sub-Wonderings What does a meaningful discussion for a beginning reader consist of? What is the value in being able to talk and write about books? How can a facilitator increase peer interaction so students are listening to one another and responding accordingly? How do adults discuss books; and can that relate to children? Can students in first grade talk to one another about a book without the teacher as a facilitator?

5 Student Book Clubs 5 How is a book club different from a reading group? What enables students to develop student talk in a book club setting? Data Collection Data Collection Narrative I collected various kinds of data as I worked to discover how to encourage students to talk to one another about books. Throughout my inquiry, I was constantly analyzing my information and evidence to decide what my next step should be in my book club with children. Before book club could begin, the first grade teachers had to evaluate their students based on running records and decide which ones needed an extension to their reading instruction. Then, as a group, we decided the kind of structure that would be appropriate for this student book club. I chose a book and introduced it to the students on Monday. On Wednesday morning I checked in with the students to monitor their reading progress and on Friday, we discussed the book. During our Friday meetings, I used my computer to video record the discussions. (See Appendix J for Video List and Analysis) The first time I met with the students, I had a half hour to interact with them and start to learn what kind of students they were, what books they liked to read, and what their personalities were like. Out of the six students only two were in my class. I wanted to be able to tailor book club to the interests and strengths of the students and that meant I had to get to know them. That night, I wrote in a journal I kept next to my bed. I reflected on what happened, how excited I was, and what I learned about the students from that morning. (See Appendix B for Journal Entry) Our second meeting was our first book discussion. I had no idea how it was going to go. I had great aspirations that the students would sit down and begin conversing with one another

6 Student Book Clubs 6 about the book I gave them to read. I planned out questions that I wanted to ask the students and I printed them out to have with me. I took time to carefully think of open-ended questions that they lend themselves to discussion better than literal questions. I brought my computer into the hallway and began recording a video of the interactions. For thirty minutes I asked the students questions and they responded. After we finished, I sent the other children back to their classrooms and I returned to my classroom with my students. That evening I watched the video and wrote a reflection paper to capture how I was feeling about book club and to think about what areas needed improvement. I was unhappy with the way students did not listen to one another. I asked several questions, such as, What was your favorite part? or Why do you think the author picked this title? that the students gave the same answer as the person next to them. Not one student connected their answer to what another student said. It seemed as though six individual conversations were going on instead of one. I knew that was not my intention and I wanted to figure out how to facilitate better discussions for the students. (See Appendix C for Book Questions & Reflection Journal) I spoke with my mentor and other colleagues in the building about what could make the discussions better for the students. My supervisor gave me a book to read by Debbie Miller called, Reading with Meaning and we talked about having a written response to the book each week. I created a sheet for the students to think about and share their understanding of the book on paper. On Monday morning of the following week, the students returned to me for a half hour in the hallway. They worked on creating the next chapter to the story that we read. At the end of the time, I collected the students work and took it home with me to examine. (See Appendix D for Student Responses)

7 Student Book Clubs 7 After I reviewed the students work, I wanted another opinion. I shared the responses with my supervisor and mentor and they both gave me verbal feedback on how they thought it was going. I knew that I had to continue to make changes so I could create the most effective use of time for the students. I met with the student throughout the year with the same meeting structure. We added a written student response on Monday, before I introduced the new book. (See Appendix E for Complete Book List) Throughout our time together, I tried many different strategies to encourage students to discuss what they read with one another. My first approach to book club lacked structure. I talked to the students about how I wanted book club to go but I had no previous experience to use for comparison. I asked the students questions and elicited responses from each one. When the results of the students discussion did not match my expectations, I decided to try something new. I reflected on the students interactions after watching the video and made the decision to implement a more structured approach. When I met with the students again for our discussion, I focused my attention on having students talk to and listen to one another. I explicitly modeled how to respond to another person and I highly praised students that made reference to another student s answer. For example, when one student explained why he thought the characters from the book bought gloves for their friend, I asked another student to tell me if they agreed and why. I wanted the students to hear what their peers were saying so they could learn from each other and understand that people can take a different viewpoint from the same situation. When I did not feel any better about the student discussions based on my facilitation changes, I began to implement other techniques. For the next meeting, I took my own fear of speaking in public and generalized it to the students, thinking that putting them at ease would encourage more discussion. I took one entire

8 Student Book Clubs 8 book club meeting to have the students get to know one another. I thought of a list of questions for the students to read and ask their peers. The students took turns pulling a question out of a cup and asking it to someone in the group. I felt that if the students knew the other children in the group better, they would feel more comfortable talking to each other. This approach did not create a discussion better than before and I sought a new idea. Another week, I introduced the students to a bookmark that I created. I wanted the students to remember things that they read so I encouraged them to place post-it notes in their books. The bookmark listed reasons that the students should put a post-it note in their book. The post-it notes served as reminders for the discussion on Friday. I gave the students both the bookmark and the post-it notes and explained that people who own books will write in them when something comes to mind. I challenged the students to do the same, following the guidelines on the bookmark. That week as I reviewed the video for book club, I took note of who used the post-it notes and how many the students used. (See Appendix G for Bookmark) After reflecting on the week, I remembered that we used to love telling stories when I was a Girl Scout. We would sit around the campfire and pass around the talking stick. A person could only add parts to the story if she was holding the stick. The rest of the group was quiet in order to make sure we could hear the storyteller and follow along with the story. I thought it would be a perfect idea to try a talking stick of my own. I created one that was bright green with stickers to ensure the students would want to use it. I explained to the students how we use a talking stick, while discussing the book. I quickly noticed that the students were not using the talking stick as intended. (See Appendix H for Talking Stick) After trying several different approaches that were not effective with the group, I decided to seek help. I interviewed the Title One reading teacher as a resource for student reading and as

9 Student Book Clubs 9 a member of an adult book club. She expressed that when students are having trouble with discussions she will, give students a reason to read before they read the pages to make comprehension easier for them. I thought this would be a grand idea, so I tried giving students a purpose for reading their book and then asking very focused questions. The students could speak to one topic and answer the questions, but it did not engage them in a meaningful conversation. (See Appendix I for Interview Questions and Notes) At the end of each book club session, I asked the students to respond to the story in some written form. This activity provided another perspective of what they understood from the story. I wanted to know if the students were unwilling to talk because they were shy or if they did not completely understand the book. To give the students variety, I created a different writing response after each book, such as creating a wanted poster for a character, explaining what he did wrong or expanding a favorite part of the story. I collected and compared all of their responses. (See Appendix F for Student Response Activities) One issue that arose was that several students did not read their book in preparation for our discussion. The rules of book club were very clear from the beginning, if a student does not read the book, they cannot participate. Since the majority of students did not read, we rescheduled our discussion for another day and I rewarded the students that did read with a special book club. They got to pick the book for the week and invite a friend that is not in book club to read and discuss with them. I wrote down what the student said when he invited his friend to book club. First, we talked about whom he would like to invite and then what to say to make sure he understood book club. This discussion highlighted the student s excitement for book club and his feelings about it. (See Appendix K for Student Conversation)

10 Student Book Clubs 10 Data Analysis Steps Taken to Analyze the Data When I began collecting data for this inquiry, I simultaneously began to analyze it as well. My wondering for the inquiry was how to facilitate better book clubs so that students talk more to one another. Every time I did something with the students, I had to reflect on whether it was effective for them. My primary concern was finding an effective structure that fostered student discussions. I watched book club videos on Fridays when I returned home from school. While I reviewed the videos, I looked for data that I could use as evidence to explain what I was noticing. Each week, I decided whether it went well or not based on how much time students actually spent talking to one another about the book. I used the weekend to reflect on interactions and create a plan for the upcoming week. I knew that I could improve book club with well thought out ideas. On Monday nights, I reviewed the student responses and decided whether they understood the book or not. I looked to see if I could assess whether or not they comprehended the story from the activity. I began to notice that students were not completing the activities within the time provided and I was unsure about their comprehension. At the beginning, I did not want to send the students back to their classroom with any kind of work from book club. I decided that the students could take their work to their classrooms as long as I got it by the end of the day. This improved the completeness of their responses and my knowledge of their comprehension. My best data collection tool was the recording of our sessions together. To analyze the videos I watched all of them and searched for common themes. First, I watched for how much facilitating I did. I quickly observed the large amount of talking I was doing versus the minimal

11 Student Book Clubs 11 amount of talking students were doing. Then I compared the students off task behavior. As I continued to review all of the videos again, I took notes and wrote a synopsis for each one as an assessment of the students and the teacher. In the synopsis, I included my discussion and questioning approaches and techniques, student off-task behaviors, and student engagement. (See Appendix J for Video List and Synopsis) Explanation of Findings After collecting all of my data and putting it into perspective, I realized that I learned something about myself, and about students as learners and participants in book club. Claim #1: I am more knowledgeable about book club through my experiences and that makes me more confident as a book club facilitator. At the beginning of the inquiry, I barely permitted the children to speak. I was so adamant on getting my questions about the book answered that I did not utilize the students responses for discussion. In the very first video a student says, This was the best book of my life. I immediately turn around and say, I need everyone to pull out their book and turn to the first chapter. I missed a perfect opportunity to capitalize on this student s comment. Now, I know that I would start a conversation about what made this book her favorite and other students could join in with their own personal connections. When I sought to understand why I was not connecting with the children in the most effective way, I discovered that this came from my fear of the unknown. I do not like being unsure about anything, especially in regards to lesson planning. I like to know exactly how a lesson will play out and it makes me very nervous when I am unaware. I prepared a list of questions for the discussion to make sure that I would have something to say to the students. I was uncomfortable with silence and I could not handle allowing a discussion to develop, I just

12 Student Book Clubs 12 wanted someone to be talking. This fear hinders my ability to create good discussions. I have a very difficult time letting go of my plan and going with the flow of a discussion. I realized when I reviewed at every video, wrote comments about my facilitation of the process, and tallied the questions that I asked the students versus questions students asked, that I talked entirely too much. (See Appendix J for Video List) Now that I am more comfortable with the students, and myself, I feel better about allowing my questions to be put aside. I do not care if we get to all of the questions on my page. I would say that I hope we do not get to all of the questions. That indicates to me that a discussion happened and we ran out of time. I know that I am getting better at becoming a book club facilitator because this was the first time I had ever done it before. I reflected on my own practices after watching the videos and made a change. I had to learn what kind of structure best fits this particular group of students. My initial book club approach lacked the appropriate structure for the students. In the video they were off-task and I was the only one talking. I had to try different techniques with the talking stick, the post-it notes, and the prepared questions to find something that was effective for this group. Although some kind of talking stick works for others, I know that it was too distracting for me with this group of students. I know that asking students to write questions on post-it notes gives them a directive for when they want to return to the text. During the two weeks that we used the structure of the post-it notes with the bookmarks, the students could easily find something to talk about from the book. These sessions had the most student generated questions and the most use of the text when making a statement.. (See Appendix J for Video List and Synopsis)

13 Student Book Clubs 13 Another indication that I am getting better at facilitating book club is my ability to go back, watch the videos, and reflect on the situation. If I were not changing and growing, I would watch the videos and find nothing wrong. I would not be able to laugh at the things that I said and get frustrated with myself when I miss the opportunity to ask more questions. Book club is encouraging me to evaluate my teaching in terms of questioning techniques, monitoring student interactions, and creating environments conducive to discussion. Claim#2: Students in first grade are capable of talking about a book in a manner similar to adults, but they need a facilitator. After comparing my notes from the interview with the reading teacher, and what I observed happening on a daily basis with my book club students, I can say that many things are the same. Both groups talk about what they have read, make personal connections to the book, and foster social interaction. As evident in all of my videos, the students were able to talk about what they read. Each week the students began our discussion with their reactions to the book. This is the same way adults begin book clubs as everyone gathers together and talks. The students could speak to what they read and answer questions that asked them to infer and analyze the book. For example, when the students discussed the Golly Sisters, I asked, How would you solve this problem? All of the students were able to give me an answer. Also like adults, the students asked each other questions for clarification. For example, when we read the book Meet George Washington there were several challenging vocabulary words and concepts. In the video, when the students did not understand several words, they asked one another for meaning. When adults do not understand something, we look it up in a dictionary, on the Internet, or from another person. These students did the same thing.

14 Student Book Clubs 14 My students also did an excellent job of making personal connections to the books that we read. Even when we read the book about Abraham Lincoln s hat, I had a student say that she would like to wear a hat because, things always fall out of my pockets. And if I wore a hat I could keep everything together in one place, just like Abraham Lincoln. I was impressed by this comment and amazed that a young student could see the benefit in keeping everything together in one place. Adults also utilize making connections to their life. Making personal connections to a text, allows the reader to become fully invested in the material and want to continue the conversation. Finally, my students can carry out conversations just as well as adults because they are developing their social skills and learning at the same time. They must listen and respond to others in way that does not hurt feelings. The students are excited to see one another and ask me on a daily basis when we will have book club again. The day I had to tell the students that they were not allowed to come to book club because they did not read, they were very unhappy. One student promised me that he would read the next time. I told him that I understood but that was the agreement we made at the beginning of the year and he did not keep his end of the deal. The students wave hello to book club members in the hallway and they talk about it during reading centers. The students are happy to get together and they always use the first few minutes before we begin our discussion to catch up with one another. Adults utilize book clubs to socialize and catch up with one another as evident in the interview with the reading teacher. We have great discussions all night long- they just may not be about the book (Appendix I). It is human nature to connect emotionally and conversationally before moving on to a different subject. The students care about one another and book club is helping them grow in social skills.

15 Student Book Clubs 15 One difference with the two groups is that my first grade students need a facilitator to run the discussions. Someone needs to be there to encourage the students to sit down and focus their attention on the speaker. Although the students can discuss the book, their surroundings easily distract them. For example, in my book club discussions about Digby and Kate and The Golly Sisters Go West students made remarks about the things hanging on the walls. During our book discussion one student pointed to the wall and said, There s even the Thompsons back there on the wall. That is Samantha s last name. She wouldn t have to change a bit. This comment was in reference to the new last names the students got for the pioneer unit, but it had nothing to do with our book. I had to steer the conversation back to the book. According to my interview, this sort of thing also happens in adult book clubs, however; they are not in a school setting, using valuable instructional time. My students also need redirection because of their age development. Students at this age are very egocentric and focus on themselves. They can have a difficult time taking the perspective of another person so they only want to share their ideas and not listen to another. I was there to give all the students that wanted to say something the chance to talk and be acknowledged by their peers. The facilitator in the student book club is the bridge between the students that comes naturally in an adult group. Adults can focus their attention and function with several conversations going on at the same time. Students, in first grade especially, need guidance and direction as they try to make sense of a book and other students interactions. Claim #3: Student book clubs are an effective way to understand how children think critically about a book. Writing is a very strenuous and tedious process. It takes a great deal of planning and preparation to write something that conveys everything a person is thinking. It can take years for

16 Student Book Clubs 16 an author to finish writing a piece. It can be even more difficult for a student, who is just learning to read and write. Through talking and discussions with the students, I feel much more confident saying that they understood a story than I would if I used their writing samples alone. In the video of our Digby and Kate discussion, you can hear the students talk about the book in a much more sophisticated manner. I asked them to tell me which character they would rather be friends with and student A told me that, I would rather be friends with Digby because I love to paint. I ve painted my deck two times with my dad. In the story Digby paints the outside of the house. This indicates to me that this student understood what the character did and he made a personal connection to the story. In the book, the characters give gifts to each other based on their own personal likes. Student B was able to answer the question about giving a gift to someone like Digby and Kate did with an amazing answer. She was able to explain that she would give her friend a Tinkerbelle doll because it was her favorite toy. I was impressed with the answers that the students were able to give based on their reading. To compliment what the students talked about, they wrote what they thought would make an exciting next chapter in Digby and Kate (Appendix D). Three students wrote words and pictures for their story to convey the meaning that they comprehended. After reading their responses, I knew that those students understood the story. Another child, Student B, only got a picture on her paper. This indicated to me that she knew who the characters were in the story, but the lack of writing made it difficult to assess her understanding. Another student had a picture and a description of the characters going to Best Buy. Based on this paper alone, I thought that this student did not even read the book. Finally, Student A doodled on his paper. This clearly indicated that he did not understand the story, especially because there was not even an

17 Student Book Clubs 17 illustration. If I had not held a discussion with these students I would have no idea that some of them even read the book. Discussions give the students human contact and provide a social environment from which humans thrive. These students were able to make personal connections to this book and answer higher-order thinking questions in their discussions. Although their writing does not indicate these advanced skills, the video indicates that it is true. Book clubs are also helpful for understanding what children think about books because the student is right in front of you. An effective moderator can probe the students and get them to think deeply or explain their ideas better. If this were just a writing piece, the teacher would not have the opportunity to ask additional questions. They have to go with what is on the paper and use it. A discussion fosters a community of learners, and ones that can express themselves. Reflections and Implications for Future Practice Next year when I begin teaching my own class of students, I want to continue to use book clubs. Although guided reading can provide a time for important discussions, in a book club approach the teacher is not pressured to make sure the students learn consonant blends. The discussion encourages students to work together and acknowledge that everyone has good ideas. To make a good discussion, everyone in the group needs to have a say. Six people talking and combining ideas is much more powerful that two. I foresee a problem figuring out the logistics in having a book club in a room where I am the only adult, but perhaps this is something that I can have after school or with other teachers. I plan to continue meeting with my book club students for the rest of this year. I believe that we are all growing and learning together. I feel good about the progress we have made, but I want to extend it more. I will continue wondering and searching for ways to facilitate more